10,000 More MBBS Seats Soon to Tackle Shortage of Doctors

In a bid to improve the doctor-patient ratio in the country, the Centre on Thursday approved a proposal for upgrading existing Central Government and state government medical colleges by increasing Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) seats by about 10,000.

The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the proposal of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to increase of about 10,000 seats at a total cost of Rs 10,000 crore, with a proposed Central assistance share of Rs 7,500 crore and state or union territory share of Rs 2,500 crore.

The funding pattern will be 90:10 by Central and State Governments respectively for Northeastern states and special category states and in the ratio of 70:30 for other states. The total expenditure on one MBBS seat is approximately Rs 1.20 crore.

The proposal is aimed at increasing the number of doctors to help bring down the doctor-patient ratio from the current 1:2,000 to 1:1,000. At present, there are around 50,000 MBBS seats across the country and the Centre is keen to increase them to address the issue of shortage of doctors.

The Centre is aiming to increase number of doctors for helping reduce the disease burden and work in the un-served areas of the country, especially in the rural hinterland.

The Centre, only last week, approved the proposal for establishment of 58 new medical colleges by upgrading of existing district hospitals in deficient states with intake capacity of 100 MBBS seats in each medical college. This will result in an increase of about 5,800 seats.

The establishment of 58 new medical colleges by upgradation of existing district hospitals in deficient states will help increase the intake capacity of 100 MBBS seats in each medical college. Currently, there are 381 medical colleges in the country with 49,918 MBBS seats .

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